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enDeveloping more accurate ways to study brain tumourshttps://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-08-13-developing-more-accurate-ways-to-study-brain-tumours
<p><strong>Science blog</strong></p>
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<p><em>In a 6-part series, we’re exploring the major challenges that are holding back progress in the field of brain tumour research. This fourth post explores how scientists study these complex diseases in the lab and the difficulties they face.</em></p>
<p>When scientists model cancer in the lab, they’re not sending cells down petri dish catwalks or crafting mini tumours out of clay. Rather, they’re creating a simplified version of the disease that they can probe and learn from.</p>
<p>These models can take many forms, from balls of cells to genetically modified flies and mice with cancer. As technology has advanced, some cancer models don’t even involve living cells at all – scientists can now make virtual tumours on computers and run huge numbers of <a href="https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2018/05/28/learning-from-a-cancers-past-could-predict-its-future/">simulations</a> in a fraction of the time it would take to carry out similar studies on real tissue.</p>
<p>“What’s interesting is what different scientists mean by and expect from a model,” says <a href="/our-research/researchers/professor-steven-pollard">Professor Steve Pollard</a>, a Cancer Research UK-funded brain tumour expert at the University of Edinburgh.</p>
<p>“In my field of developmental biology, a model system is something that is reduced in complexity to the level where you can still use it quickly and effectively to study something of interest.”</p>
<p>The main issue with modelling brain tumours is that these diseases – like the organ itself – are incredibly complex. This makes translating discoveries from models to people incredibly hard. So much so that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2864134/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">experts blame</a> models – at least in part – for the high failure rate of experimental brain tumour treatments in clinical trials.</p>
<p>That’s why, as part of our inaugural <a href="/funding-for-researchers/our-funding-schemes/brain-tumour-awards">Brain Tumour Awards</a>, we’re calling out for scientists to develop better brain tumour models. They’re urgently needed to make the process of bringing new drugs into people faster and more reliable. Ultimately, this could mean patients are no longer presented with the same treatment options as those given decades ago.</p>
<h2>Starting with simplicity</h2>
<p>One of the major ways that scientists study brain tumours – and indeed any cancer – is by growing cells in plastic dishes. The cells might come from tissue taken during surgery, or biopsy samples if surgery isn’t possible. They offer a cellular snapshot of what’s going on in a patient. And that means scientists can start to unpick what has gone wrong to cause their disease, potentially highlighting ways to develop smarter, more precise treatments based on tumour biology.</p>
<p>But an issue with these models is that scientists are looking at a tumour that has already formed, which misses out early stages of the disease.</p>
<blockquote class="pull-right"><div class="quotation-marks">
<p>We’re not seeing the creation of the tumour. That’s what we need if we’re going to develop ways to detect and treat these diseases early.</p>
</div>
<p><cite>– Dr Dan Tennant</cite></p>
</blockquote>
<p>“We’re not seeing the creation of the tumour,” says <a href="/our-research/researchers/dr-daniel-tennant">Dr Daniel Tennant</a>, a Cancer Research UK-funded expert on cell models at the University of Birmingham.</p>
<p>“That’s what we need if we’re going to develop ways to detect and treat these diseases early.”</p>
<p>A way around this is make healthy brain cells turn cancerous in the lab by manipulating their DNA, copying genetic mistakes found in brain tumours. This can begin to unravel the changes that occur when tumours first develop. But doing so creates a colony of cells that are genetically identical, which is far from the reality of many brain tumours. Glioblastomas, for example, have been shown to be composed of a ‘patchwork’ of genetically distinct groups of cells.</p>
<p>“A major challenge is developing models that faithfully capture the genetic diversity of the cancer,” says <a href="https://med.stanford.edu/monje-lab.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr Michelle Monje</a>, an expert in neuroscience from Stanford University in the US. Monje also points out that for childhood brain tumours, disease biology varies with age, adding yet another layer of complexity that needs to be considered when creating models.</p>
<h2>Life in plastic, is not fantastic</h2>
<p>Another prevailing issue with cell models is that the lab is poles apart from the real <a href="https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2018/07/12/exploiting-the-brain-tumour-environment-to-make-better-treatments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">complex environment that cancers grow in</a>. Tumours don’t naturally grow as flat, 2D sheets across plastic dishes. Scientists like Tennant are developing ways to more accurately mimic the architecture of brain tumours by growing 3D balls of cells called ‘neurospheres’, suspended in liquid. But he knows that this doesn’t go quite far enough.</p>
<p>“This still misses the brain environment, the blood brain barrier and interactions with immune cells,” he says, adding that a type of immune cell called microglia can make up a significant proportion of some brain tumours. “We’re missing a lot, but unfortunately it’s likely that we’ll never entirely capture the workings of a brain tumour in a cell model, regardless of how complex you make it.”</p>
<blockquote class="pull-right"><div class="quotation-marks">
<p>There is a balance between complexity versus simplicity… You need to have both in parallel.</p>
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<p><cite>– Professor Steve Pollard</cite></p>
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<p>Despite these pitfalls, Pollard highlights that making things complicated isn’t always the solution.</p>
<p>“There is a balance between complexity versus simplicity,” he says. “The simplistic model gives you quick answers, and they’re reliable and robust. The complex model gives you something that’s more relevant, but the danger is the variability is so great that you never make any significant discoveries.</p>
<p>“You need to have both in parallel.”</p>
<h2>Capturing complexity</h2>
<p>So, what does a more complex model look like? Mice are often the go-to as they give researchers the advantage of studying brain tumours in their natural environment. Just like cell models, scientists can take samples from brain tumour patients and grow these in mice. But to make sure the mouse’s immune system doesn’t reject the foreign, invading cells, the animals need to have their immune cells removed. That necessity takes away a crucial element of brain tumour biology.</p>
<p>“These patient-derived models address the issue of genetic diversity seen in brain tumours, but they need to be complemented with genetically engineered mice,” says Monje. She adds that advances in gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR, have made creating these genetically engineered mice faster and easier, so that scientists can mimic the genetic faults driving these tumours and study the consequences.</p>
<p>“These may not capture all aspects of human tumour biology, but they have an intact immune system,” she says.</p>
<h2>Making models meaningful</h2>
<p>Among all the buts and limitations, Pollard summarises one clear thread that emerges in this intricate field: “There’s no such thing as a single model that’s perfect for all questions.”</p>
<p>So just as brain tumours are too great a challenge for one scientist to solve, no one model will give all the answers. But by uniting researchers to share ideas and work together, hopefully the Cancer Research UK Brain Tumour Awards will help scientists find the ideal mix of methods to begin solving this problem.</p>
<p>“I think it’ll all coalesce,” says Tennant. “The cell work, mouse models; it’ll all come together.”</p>
<p><em>Justine </em></p>
<a href="/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-08-13-developing-more-accurate-ways-to-study-brain-tumours">Read more</a>2018-08-13 10:39:25Cancer Research UKDeveloping more accurate ways to study brain tumoursBlood test could detect kidney cancer up to 5 years earlierhttps://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/press-release/2018-08-13-blood-test-could-detect-kidney-cancer-up-to-5-years-earlier
<p><strong>Press release</strong></p>
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<p>Scientists have discovered that a marker in the blood could help predict the risk that a person will develop kidney cancer, according to research published in the journal <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30037816/"><em>Clinical Cancer Research</em></a>. </p>
<p>Supported by Cancer Research UK, the IARC and the NIH, the work used samples taken as part of the EPIC* study to examine the blood of 190 people who went on to develop <a href="/about-cancer/kidney-cancer">kidney cancer</a>, compared to 190 controls who did not. </p>
<div class="quote"><strong>“This work is a big step forward; KIM-1 is the only blood biomarker shown prospectively to distinguish between people at high and low risk of kidney cancer.”</strong> <em>– Dr David Muller, Cancer Research UK-funded co-first author. </em></div>
<p>They found that measuring levels of a protein molecule in the blood, called KIM-1, could indicate whether a person was more likely to develop kidney cancer over the following 5 years. </p>
<p>The data also showed that the greater the concentration of KIM-1, the higher their risk** of developing kidney cancer. </p>
<p>In people with kidney cancer, KIM-1 levels were also found to be linked with poor survival, as those with the highest levels in their blood were less likely to survive. </p>
<p>In the future, the scientists think that testing for blood KIM-1 levels could be used alongside imaging to confirm suspicions of kidney cancer, or help to rule out the disease. </p>
<p>Dr David Muller, Cancer Research UK-funded co-first author based at <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a>, said: “This work is a big step forward; KIM-1 is the only blood biomarker shown prospectively to distinguish between people at high and low risk of kidney cancer. But there’s a lot more work to do before we could envisage this in the clinic. </p>
<p>“The next steps are to look more closely at whether KIM-1 levels can help detect tumours that have a good prognosis, so those at an early stage, and to find out if it could be used as a tool to track whether a patient’s treatment is working.” </p>
<p>Kidney cancer is the 7th most common cancer in the UK and cases are on the rise. When diagnosed at its earliest stage, more than 8 in 10 people will survive their disease for 5 years or more. More than 4 in 10 cases in England are diagnosed at a late stage, however, and just 1 in 10 people survive kidney cancer when diagnosed at the latest stage. </p>
<p>Diagnosing the disease earlier therefore has the potential to boost survival, but the majority of early-stage tumours do not present symptoms and many cases are picked up incidentally during imaging for a range of other health conditions. </p>
<p>Professor Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK’s Chief Clinician, said: “The potential of blood tests for the detection and monitoring of cancers is becoming increasingly apparent, and this work offers further evidence that they could become powerful tools in the clinic. </p>
<p>“There is a pressing need to shift kidney cancer diagnoses towards earlier stages, when treatment is more likely to be successful, and this promising research is progress towards that goal. This work is still in early stages, so prospective studies of larger populations are needed before this approach could be widely adopted.” </p>
<p>Dr Rupal Bhatt, NIH-funded senior author based at Harvard Medical School, said: “It’s now crucial to understand more about how KIM-1 could be incorporated into patients’ treatment. </p>
<p>“We’re excited about progressing this important work further and testing whether KIM-1 levels could help identify patients who may benefit from additional treatment after surgery, and therefore potentially improve their outlook.</p>
<a href="/about-us/cancer-news/press-release/2018-08-13-blood-test-could-detect-kidney-cancer-up-to-5-years-earlier">Read more</a>2018-08-13 09:15:00Cancer Research UKBlood test could detect kidney cancer up to 5 years earlierNews digest – bowel screening age, reducing childhood obesity, NHS delays, and biological ‘drones’https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-08-11-news-digest-bowel-screening-age-reducing-childhood-obesity-nhs-delays-and-biological-drones
<p><strong>Science blog</strong></p>
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<h2>Bowel screening age to be dropped to 50 in England</h2>
<p>Bowel cancer screening will be offered 10 years earlier in England, Public Health England announced this week. This follows evidence that screening people at a younger age would save more lives. The change brings England in line with Scotland, where bowel screening is already offered from the age of 50. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45143895" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC News</a> and the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/10/everyone-50-offered-bowel-cancer-screening-new-plans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Telegraph</a> have the details.</p>
<h2>Working with new parents may reduce childhood obesity</h2>
<p>Advising first-time parents on how to respond to their child’s needs could help to reduce obesity in children, results from a US study suggest. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45096948" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC News</a> and the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2018/08/07/mothers-feed-babies-stop-crying-could-fuelling-obesity-epidemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Telegraph</a> covered the research, which coached parents on sleep routines, physical activity and comforting babies without using food. It was a small study in a well-off group of parents, so we can’t draw too many conclusions.</p>
<h2>NHS cancer appointment delays in England</h2>
<p>Record numbers of patients are waiting too long to see a cancer specialist in England, reports the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/09/thousands-of-cancer-patients-face-nhs-treatment-delays" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Guardian</a>. The new NHS figures show that over 130,000 people had to wait more than two weeks to see a specialist after being referred by their GP between June 2017 and June 2018.</p>
<h2>KFC and Kellogg’s broke ad rules</h2>
<p>Ads by KFC and Kellogg’s have broken strict junk food ad rules, according to the Advertising Standards Authority. These rules prevent companies advertising high fat, sugar or salt products to children. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45095094" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC News</a> and the <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/kfc-and-kelloggs-adverts-banned-after-appearing-outside-primary-school-and-during-cartoon-a3906101.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Evening Standard</a> have the details.</p>
<h2>New NHS survey reveals GP pressures</h2>
<p>One in four patients are waiting a least a week for a GP appointment, reports the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/09/doubling-long-waits-see-gp-record-pressures-ae-revealed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Telegraph</a>. The latest figures also revealed that 3 in 10 people find it difficult to get their GP practice on the phone. Despite the pressure on services, 84% of patients describe their experience with their GP practice as either fairly or very good.</p>
<h2>Increase in UK life expectancy stalls</h2>
<p>Life expectancy improvements in the UK have stalled in recent years, reports <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/07/increase-in-uk-life-spans-stalling-at-one-of-fastest-rates-among-20-leading-economies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian</a> and the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/life-expectancy-uk-rise-slowing-down-world-richest-countries-statistics-a8481416.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Independent</a>. The new figures show increases in life expectancy in the UK have slowed more than most other leading economies.</p>
<h2>Study explores e-cig use in young people</h2>
<p>One in 10 students had tried e-cigarettes in a new survey of 499 pupils aged 11-16 years old, and more than half of those who had experimented with e-cigarettes had never smoked. The <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/05/vaping-could-gateway-smoking-teenagers-study-shows/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Telegraph</a> was quick to talk about a “gateway” effect, but the study didn’t look at who went on to become regular users of either e-cigarettes or traditional cigarettes, or if those who tried e-cigarettes would have tried smoking anyway.</p>
<h2>Scottish bowel screening target not being met</h2>
<p>A target for the number of people taking up bowel screening has been missed in Scotland. The new figures also showed that those living in the poorest areas were the least likely to take up bowel screening. The <a href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/bowel-cancer-screening-target-not-being-achieved-1-4780000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scotsman</a> and <a href="http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/16403147.men-in-poorer-areas-shun-life-saving-bowel-cancer-screening/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Glasgow Evening Times</a> have the story.</p>
<h2>And finally</h2>
<p>Scientists have uncovered a new trick that cancer cells can use to avoid the body’s immune system: releasing biological ‘drones’. <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/cancer-cells-use-biological-drones-to-battle-immune-system-study-11466718" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sky News</a> covered the early research, which found that melanoma skin cancer cells release tiny, fluid-filled sacks to tire out immune cells before they even get to the tumour. Scientists think they could use this information in the future to help predict who could benefit from immunotherapy treatments.</p>
<p><em>Katie</em></p>
<a href="/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-08-11-news-digest-bowel-screening-age-reducing-childhood-obesity-nhs-delays-and-biological-drones">Read more</a>2018-08-11 06:00:36Cancer Research UKNews digest – bowel screening age, reducing childhood obesity, NHS delays, and biological ‘drones’Building a career in translational research: Dr Marnix Jansen, Clinician Scientist Fellowhttps://www.cancerresearchuk.org/funding-for-researchers/research-features/Building-a-career-in-translational-research-Dr-Marnix-Jansen
<p><strong>Research Feature</strong></p>
<img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/default/files/marnix_jansen_940x470.jpg" width="940" height="466" alt="Marnix Jansen, Clinical Scientist Fellowship" title="Marnix Jansen, Clinical Scientist Fellowship" />
<p> </p>
<p><span class="large-font">Dr Marnix Jansen completed his molecular genetics degree before starting his medical and specialty pathology training. By the time he applied to us for funding, Marnix had built up a unique skill set having collaborated with some of the best research groups working in stem cell research and Barrett’s oesophagus.</span></p>
<p>Marnix is at the "Developing independence" stage in our <a href="/funding-for-researchers/research-career-development-opportunities/competency-framework-for-fellowships">Fellowships Competency Framework</a>, and here he explains how he demonstrated in his application the skills and experience we expect of researchers at this point in their careers. He also tells us how our <a href="/funding-for-researchers/our-funding-schemes/clinician-scientist-fellowship">Clinician Scientist Fellowship</a> is allowing him to integrate clinical work with his research goals to find kinder treatments for patients with early stage oesophageal cancer.</p>
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<h3>Career stage: Developing independence</h3>
<p>After finishing my PhD and pathology specialty training in the Netherlands, I came to the UK on a two-year junior fellowship funded by the Dutch Cancer Society.</p>
<p>During my clinical training in Amsterdam I collected a rare patient cohort, which formed the basis of my initial research here in the UK. I applied for a Clinician Scientist Fellowship with Cancer Research UK as it provided the right support for my clinical work and translational research. It’s really important to me that I can carry out clinical academic research in an environment such as UCL’s Cancer Institute, a <a href="/funding-for-researchers/our-research-infrastructure/our-centres">CRUK research centre</a>, where it’s easy to connect with other researchers who are involved in preclinical studies.</p>
<h3>Research experience: Building up a body of work towards a bigger goal</h3>
<p>In my fellowship application, I set out to demonstrate how my research over the years was part of an overarching narrative of early cancer diagnosis and reflected a bigger scientific hypothesis I was working towards.</p>
<p>During my pathology training, I made sure I got involved with ongoing research projects. In my application to CRUK, I was able to demonstrate that I had built up a portfolio of research outputs including patient cohorts and publications. </p>
<h3>Future research ambitions: Optimising early cancer detection programmes</h3>
<p>During my interview, I was keen to pitch that my work would bring a new perspective to screening of patients with early stage oesophageal cancer – a cancer that, because of greater awareness and surveillance programmes, we’re now detecting more frequently. There are obvious benefits of early detection programmes to both patients and our healthcare system, but we will only reap those benefits if we can identify the few patients who actually benefit from intensive follow-up treatment after early cancer diagnosis.</p>
<p>In my team, we’re pursuing research that aims to reveal how stem cells evolve during oesophageal cancer progression, which may differ from patient to patient. We’re currently working on new diagnostic methods which five years from now could impact how we understand recurrence risk in patients with early cancer. It makes it a really exciting time to be carrying out this research in pathology.</p>
<h3>Balancing academic and clinical commitments</h3>
<p>At times it’s challenging to balance research and clinical commitments, but I understand the importance of the 20% of my time I give to the health service during my CRUK fellowship. It’s not just about keeping my medical license to practice; my clinical commitment also helps me to build my clinical cohorts, which of course feeds back into my research.</p>
<h3>Skills: Gaining insight and inspiration from a mentor and other research groups</h3>
<p>I learned a great deal from Sir Nick Wright, who mentored me during my first fellowship at Barts Cancer Institute. Nick is an exceptional mentor who has helped me understand the UK network and the unwritten rules of building a career in translational research.</p>
<p><span class="large-font"><span class="quote-blue">Nick is a pathologist with a lifelong career in stem cell research and remains an inspiring role model, showing me that you can continue down this clinical academic route as a scientifically involved clinical researcher and at the same time run an active clinical agenda.</span></span></p>
<p>I’ve spent time in other research groups, and participated in public engagement and patient interaction events. Since my award, I’ve also improved my communication skills to relay the impact of our work to various audiences. I’ve also developed my skills in leading a research team.</p>
<p>I feel strongly that everyone in the group should understand how their work fits into the bigger picture and what the long-term goals of the lab are. I try to make sure my PhD students work on several projects at the same time, with one being a ‘stretch’ project.</p>
<p>I’m also much more entrepreneurial now. For example, when liaising with industry I understand how to pitch my research by discussing unmet needs, deliverables, outcomes and timelines.</p>
<h3>Looking to the future</h3>
<p>I’m a year and a half into this fellowship and I feel I now have a clear view of the results we are aiming to deliver. I think it is very important to have a long-term perspective and understand what the next steps are after a project. Having five years to develop your research during the fellowship gives you time to develop a direction in your career to really understand your research question and the broader context that drives it.</p>
<p>Through a CRUK Fellows’ networking meeting, I’ve formed a great collaboration with another CRUK Fellow, <a href="/our-research/researchers/dr-yinyin-yuan">Yinyin Yuan</a>, who leads the Computational Pathology and Integrative Genomics team at The Institute for Cancer Research. We’ve recently secured a CRUK <a href="/funding-for-researchers/our-funding-schemes/multidisciplinary-project-award">Multidisciplinary Project Award</a> to develop single cell resolution 3D-models of immune surveillance in cancer, and we’re currently discussing working together on another funding application, which we think could lead to a huge population health impact.</p>
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<h2>Career profile: Dr Marnix Jansen</h2>
<p><strong>2017–2021:</strong> CRUK Clinician Scientist Fellow, UCL Pathology<br /><strong>2013–2017:</strong> Fellow Dutch Cancer Society, Tumour Biology, Barts Cancer Institute<br /><strong>2013: </strong>Clinical Fellow, Pathology, National Cancer Centre, Tokyo<br /><strong>2008–2013: </strong>Resident, Pathology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam<br /><strong>2008:</strong> PhD at Hubrecht Laboratory, University of Utrecht<br /><strong>2006:</strong> MD at Amsterdam Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam<br /><strong>2002: </strong>MSc degree in Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biology, University of Amsterdam</p>
<div class="more"><a href="/our-research/researchers/dr-marnix-jansen">Find out more about Marnix's research</a></div>
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<p> </p>
<a href="/funding-for-researchers/research-features/Building-a-career-in-translational-research-Dr-Marnix-Jansen">Read more</a>2018-08-08 08:30:00Cancer Research UKBuilding a career in translational research: Dr Marnix Jansen, Clinician Scientist FellowGetting enough vitamin D? You need far less sun than you might thinkhttps://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-08-06-getting-enough-vitamin-d-you-need-far-less-sun-than-you-might-think
<p><strong>Science blog</strong></p>
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<p>The summer weather has surprised us and made getting your daily dose of vitamin D that much easier. But the sunny weather always prompts questions about how to enjoy it safely.</p>
<p>Most people know there’s a balance to be struck when it comes to spending time out in the sun. Its UV rays that are the main cause of skin cancer, but we also need some sunshine to generate vitamin D.</p>
<p>Although the number of children getting rickets from low vitamin D levels is still relatively small, in recent years it has <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/rickets-and-osteomalacia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased slightly</a>, suggesting some people may not be spending enough time outside. But skin cancer is also on the increase, for example almost 16,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma every year.</p>
<p>The amount of sun you need to generate enough vitamin D varies depending on your skin. But it has been unclear how long people might need to spend in the sun to generate enough vitamin D while minimising their skin cancer risk.</p>
<p>That’s where research from Professor Lesley Rhodes, at the University of Manchester, comes in.</p>
<h2>Is there a safe level of sun exposure?</h2>
<p>In an in-depth <a href="https://www.jidonline.org/article/S0022-202X(18)31950-X/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cancer Research UK-funded study</a>, Rhodes and her team looked at the impact of exposing 39 people of different skin types to low levels of UV. Would that be enough to generate vitamin D? And will this cause DNA damage in their cells that could lead to skin cancer?</p>
<p>Unlike previous studies, Rhodes gave participants UV doses related to their burning risk.</p>
<p>As the dose of UV increased towards their individual burning level, there was an increase in both vitamin D levels and DNA damage seen in skin samples. For all skin types these factors seem to be completely intertwined.</p>
<h2>What about different skin types?</h2>
<p>One motivation for Rhodes is understanding more about difference between skin types. “Quite a lot of information has been gathered on white-skinned people, but there’s been very little for people with darker skin. We needed to firm up our knowledge by looking at the major benefit and the major harm of sunlight at the same time in each person.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, the findings differed by skin type when the researchers looked at the lower layer of the skin, where damage is most dangerous. For darker skin types DNA damage wasn’t detected at this lower level, it was mostly at the surface. In lighter skin types DNA damage was found throughout the layers, meaning there was more potentially dangerous damage lower down.</p>
<p>“This was a really novel discovery, that the darker the skin colour the closer the DNA damage was to the surface” says Rhodes.</p>
<p>Regardless of dose or skin type, the DNA damage was no longer present 48 hours later. Our bodies can deal with some level of DNA damage and the level of damage in the study seemed to be low enough to be cleared shortly after. Although this is reassuring, the study can’t rule out the possibility that damage like this could go on to cause problems. And Rhodes is keen to study this more in the future.</p>
<h2>What does this mean for people?</h2>
<p>The findings suggest there’s DNA damage happening before skin burns and that it may be more likely to lead to problems in lighter skin types than darker ones. Larger studies will be needed to confirm those results.</p>
<p>“People with darker skin can be encouraged to expose their skin to the sun, without burning, to get vitamin D with very low risk of skin cancer,” says Rhodes. “However, for people with lighter skin who are easy burners we’ve shown even very low doses of UV radiation, down to one fifth of their sunburn threshold, can unfortunately damage the cells in lower layers of the skin.”</p>
<p>There may not be a totally safe level of exposure to the sun when it comes to DNA damage and skin cancer risk, but we also need some sunshine to make vitamin D. Rhodes’ next question was how long do we need to spend in the sun to make enough?</p>
<h2>Minutes not hours</h2>
<p>“We wanted to define a fairly straight-forward formula for how much sunlight people would need in the UK to get enough vitamin D,” says Rhodes. “People are always asking ‘how much?’, but it’s not quite as simple as just talking about minutes, you also need to look at what area of skin you need to expose and at what time of day.”</p>
<p>To do this, she teamed up with Professor Ann Webb, a physicist with expertise in the atmosphere and sunlight. Together, they modelled the level needed by the end of summer for most people to have enough vitamin D throughout winter, when the sun isn’t strong enough for us to make vitamin D in the UK.</p>
<p>They estimated that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5946282/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9 minutes of lunchtime sunlight each day</a> would be enough for Caucasians to stay above the ‘deficient’ category of vitamin D level throughout the year. This figure assumes that people would be in shorts and t-shirts for June to August, while only having their hands and faces exposed from March to June and for September.</p>
<p>Our bodies start to break down vitamin D when we’re generating a lot of it so you can’t do a week all in one go. Little and often does seem to be the key.</p>
<p>With the same conditions, even people with darker brown skin that hardly ever burns and easily tans – such as people of South Asian origin –and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5946242/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">may only need 25 minutes</a>.</p>
<h2>Not a prescription</h2>
<p>The studies were based on several specific assumptions. For example, they considered exposure to sun in the UK without sunscreen, accounting for UK weather and no travel abroad. But they can help to give us a broad idea. As Rhodes says: “Some assumptions have to be made but we tried to look at something that was realistic. After this 9 minutes is when sun protection becomes key.”</p>
<p>But if you’re concerned about your vitamin D levels, or your family’s, you may only need to find a few minutes outside at lunchtime each day. Like almost everything else in our daily lives, it won’t be completely risk-free, but it should give a healthy balance.</p>
<p>“People often think it’s a balance between getting enough vitamin D and avoiding skin cancer,” says Rhodes. “But our feeling is that quite often people may be justifying too much time in the sun in order to get their vitamin D. So it’s important to give people the information.</p>
<p><em>Nikki Smith is a health information manager at Cancer Research UK</em></p>
<h3>Find out more on how to enjoy the sun safely:</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2016/06/10/12-sun-safety-myths-debunked/">12 sun safety myths debunked</a></li>
<li><a href="/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/sun-uv-and-cancer/ways-to-enjoy-the-sun-safely">Ways to enjoy the sun safely</a></li>
</ul>
<a href="/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-08-06-getting-enough-vitamin-d-you-need-far-less-sun-than-you-might-think">Read more</a>2018-08-06 09:22:58Cancer Research UKGetting enough vitamin D? You need far less sun than you might thinkNews digest – breast cancer treatment, potential vape tax, high-tech MRI and cannabis extracthttps://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-08-04-news-digest-breast-cancer-treatment-potential-vape-tax-high-tech-mri-and-cannabis-extract
<p><strong>Science blog</strong></p>
<img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/default/files/pancreaticcancercellcrop_2.jpg" width="620" height="348" />
<h2>Breast cancer treatment can double risk of heart disease</h2>
<p>Breast cancer survivors whose treatment involved chemotherapy or radiotherapy could be at higher risk of heart disease, reports the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/31/breast-cancer-treatment-can-double-heart-risks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Telegraph</a>. The Dutch study involved almost 15,000 women who were treated between 1970 and 2009. Experts said that since then radiotherapy techniques have changed, and most women are now given a drug to reduce the risk of heart damage.</p>
<h2>Government considering e-cig tax, say Whitehall sources</h2>
<p>The Government is considering a tax on e-cigarettes in the next Budget, according to <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6919582/britains-2-9million-vapers-could-be-hit-with-sin-tax-to-help-raise-40million-for-the-nhs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Sun</a> and <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6017453/E-cigarettes-taxed-time-Treasury-looks-raise-20-billion.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mail Online</a>. The news came from sources in Whitehall, who say that the tax would help fund the extra £20 billion promised to the NHS. No official announcement has been made.</p>
<h2>NHS England survey results reveal cancer patients’ experiences</h2>
<p>One in 3 people with cancer visited their GP at least twice before being referred to hospital for tests, according to a new survey by NHS England. But patients rated their overall care as 8.8 out of 10 on average – the highest score achieved since the report was launched in 2010. The <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6000121/THIRD-cancer-patients-GP-twice-sent-tests.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mail Online</a> has the details.</p>
<h2>Lung cancer deaths in women expected to rise</h2>
<p>Deaths in women with lung cancer are predicted to rise by 43% globally by 2030, reports the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/lung-cancer-women-deaths-smoking-tobacco-industry-cigarettes-breast-cancer-a8471871.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Independent</a>. The research included data from 52 countries, and projected that Europe and Oceania would have the highest percentage of deaths in women with lung cancer, reflecting prior smoking trends.</p>
<h2>Brexit will harm NHS and public health, say doctors</h2>
<p>Eight in 10 UK doctors think that leaving the EU will hurt the NHS, according to new poll results. The <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/brexit-final-say-doctors-harm-nhs-crisis-eu-second-referendum-nurses-study-a8470336.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Independent</a> covered the survey, which asked 1,200 UK doctors for their opinion on Brexit.</p>
<h2>New ‘super-resolution’ MRI could help plan radiotherapy treatment for lung cancer</h2>
<p>Physicists have created ‘super-resolution’ videos of lungs expanding and contracting using MRI, reports the <a href="https://www.icr.ac.uk/news-archive/new-super-resolution-mri-could-help-plan-radiotherapy-treatment-for-lung-cancer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Institute of Cancer Research, London</a>. Scientists combined images taken on a standard MRI machine to build accurate, high resolution movies of people breathing in and out. They think the technique could be used to deliver more precise radiotherapy for lung cancer in the future.</p>
<h2>And finally</h2>
<p>Cannabis extract <a href="https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/wellbeing/cannabis-pancreatic-cancer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hit</a> <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/pancreatic-cancer-medical-cannabis-cbd-oil-cannabidiol-chemotherapy-a8470406.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jul/30/substance-in-cannabis-could-boost-pancreatic-cancer-treatments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">headlines</a> this week. A study found that combining a compound found in cannabis (cannabidiol, CBD) with chemo extended the lives of mice with pancreatic cancer. The media were quick to talk about the potential benefits of cannabis extract to treat patients, but it’s too early to say if it will work in people. <a href="https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2012/07/25/cannabis-cannabinoids-and-cancer-the-evidence-so-far/">Read our blog post</a> for up to date evidence on cannabis and cancer.</p>
<p><em>Katie </em></p>
<a href="/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-08-04-news-digest-breast-cancer-treatment-potential-vape-tax-high-tech-mri-and-cannabis-extract">Read more</a>2018-08-04 06:03:12Cancer Research UKNews digest – breast cancer treatment, potential vape tax, high-tech MRI and cannabis extractLiving with a brain tumour – Sue’s storyhttps://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-08-03-living-with-a-brain-tumour-sues-story
<p><strong>Science blog</strong></p>
<img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/default/files/sue-humphreys-hero_0.jpg" width="620" height="348" />
<p><em>Brain tumours are hard to treat and survival remains stubbornly low. That’s why brain tumour research is one of our top priorities. In the final of a 3-part series, Sue shares what it’s like to live with a brain tumour. </em></p>
<p>It might sound strange, but I was first diagnosed with a brain tumour because my gynaecologist referred me to an anaesthetist that he knew. I was 36 at the time and I’d been having migraines for years. I’d been to the GP but nothing they prescribed worked.</p>
<p>Botox was just <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/news/medication/botox-gets-nod-for-migraine/">coming out</a> for migraines, but because of my medical history the anaesthetist couldn’t give me the injections without sending me for a brain scan first. That’s when they found the tumour.</p>
<p>I was referred to a neurosurgeon and was back in hospital within 3 days as an urgent case. The surgeon said he couldn’t do a biopsy because of the tumour’s location, as it would cause a massive bleed in my brain. I was straight in for surgery, which lasted five and a half hours. When my results came back, they’d found it was a grade 2 <a href="/about-cancer/brain-tumours/types/glioma-adults">astrocytoma</a>.</p>
<h2>An invisible illness</h2>
<p>Even though I’d been having symptoms for years, the diagnosis still came as a shock. I had 3 young children at the time and had to stop and think about them, and what would happen if something happened to me.</p>
<blockquote class="pull-right"><div class="quotation-marks">
<p>Because it wasn’t something you could see, like a broken leg, people just assumed that I was OK.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>I recovered well from my operation and once I’d had my staples out and my hair was back to normal, you’d have never known I’d had brain tumour surgery.</p>
<p>Because it wasn’t something you could see, like a broken leg, people just assumed that I was OK now, so I didn’t feel that I got the support I needed. I wished people would have offered to take the kids out to the park for a few hours; my youngest was only 2 at the time so it was really difficult. But they just didn’t understand, which was frustrating.</p>
<p>At times like this you really find out who your friends are. We had some friends who, when I was on treatment, would come around and cook for us so many times. I never asked. It was brilliant, and just what I needed.</p>
<h2>Living with unknowns</h2>
<p>For the next 6 years I was well, and life was normal. I had to have scans every 6 months which were always OK. I don’t mind the machines, and there’s a lot to be said for building up relationships with the staff. I got to know them all and they’re all brilliant.</p>
<p>Then, in 2013, I had a <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/grand-mal-seizure/symptoms-causes/syc-20363458">serious seizure</a> in my sleep while on holiday. We came back home the next day and I was given another MRI scan, but everything was fine. So, I was put on anti-seizure medication and for the next 6 months I was fine, the drugs seemed to stop everything. But then the seizures returned, first occasionally and then several times a day. The MRI scans still didn’t show anything, so in May the following year I had a different type of scan called an <a href="https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-MRspectroscopy.HTM">MRS</a>, which is much longer and more detailed.</p>
<p>That picked up unusual levels of brain activity, so I had to go back in for surgery. The tumour had come back, but because it was picked up early it hadn’t had time to grow into a large mass. This time though, the tumour had changed to a grade 3.</p>
<blockquote class="pull-right"><div class="quotation-marks">
<p>For my type of tumour, it will never be: “You’re better now.” There’s no cure for it.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>I needed to have 18 cycles of the chemotherapy drug temozolomide. It was 3 weeks on and 1 off, 18 times. It was a long, tough process. I did really well, I think it’s a brilliant drug. For me though, the worst part was the fatigue.</p>
<p>It really does wipe you out. But I had to carry on, and I was getting up every day to make sandwiches for my kids to take to school.</p>
<p>Right now, everything is OK. But for my type of tumour, it will never be: “You’re better now.” When I last saw my doctor, and asked him what my chances are, he said that unfortunately my tumour is the kind that will simmer away, and it will come back again.</p>
<p>There’s no cure for it. It’s how long I’ve got that’s the difficult thing to come to terms with.</p>
<p>For me it could be 10 years, or it could be 6 months. That’s the sad thing, I just don’t know. And that’s the way I must live.</p>
<h2>Taking life as it comes</h2>
<p>It’s been 11 years since my diagnosis, and I have good days and bad days. It’s changed my personality, which is probably because the tumour is near my <a href="https://braininjuryhelp.com/temporal-lobes-temporal-cortex/">temporal lobe</a>, where emotions are made.</p>
<p>It depends on the circumstances as to how I react to people in different situations, but I’ve got a really bad temper. I know I’ve changed, but I never use the tumour as an excuse.</p>
<blockquote class="pull-right"><div class="quotation-marks">
<p>You’ve got to make the most of what you’ve got and enjoy the life that you have.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s worse when people around me have died because of their brain tumours. Because I’ve had cancer for a long time now, I’ve met a lot of people who have also had brain tumours. Some of these people haven’t been as unwell as I have, but then they’ve suddenly died from their disease, while for others their treatment hasn’t worked or stopped working.</p>
<p>In the last 3 months, 3 of my friends with the same tumour have had their disease come back and they didn’t have any symptoms. There just aren’t enough success stories for brain tumours.</p>
<p>I still have scans every 3 months, but my attitude is that I can’t change anything and I must take each day as it comes.</p>
<p>I’m quite tough, so I don’t believe in sitting around feeling sorry for myself. I don’t look at life as time I’ve got left. You’ve got to make the most of what you’ve got and enjoy the life that you have, because it passes you by.</p>
<p><em>If you’ve been affected by cancer and would like to speak to someone, you can call our nurses on freephone 0808 800 4040, 9am until 5pm Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can join our friendly and supportive discussion forum, Cancer Chat.</em></p>
<a href="/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-08-03-living-with-a-brain-tumour-sues-story">Read more</a>2018-08-03 06:30:15Cancer Research UKLiving with a brain tumour – Sue’s storyImproving flexibility for researchers: removing post-PhD time restrictions on our fellowshipshttps://www.cancerresearchuk.org/funding-for-researchers/research-features/2018-08-01-improving-flexibility-for-researchers-removing-post-phd-time-restrictions-on-our-fellowships
<p><strong>Research Feature</strong></p>
<img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/default/files/2_scientists_in_lab_940px_2x1.jpg" width="940" height="470" alt="[2 scientists in the lab]" />
<p> </p>
<p><span class="large-font">We know making the transition to your next career stage can be challenging. You should be able to apply to us for funding at the right time for you and your career rather than by an artificial cut-off point. So as part of our commitment to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in research, we’re removing the post-PhD time restrictions on all our response-mode fellowship schemes.</span></p>
<p>Our <a href="/funding-for-researchers/research-career-development-opportunities/competency-framework-for-fellowships">new competency framework</a> for fellowship applicants is intended as guidance for you to consider which funding opportunity is right for you to support your transition to the next career level. This framework shifts the focus from the number of years post PhD onto your achievements and your level of independence, your research ambition, and the skills you can demonstrate. Our competency framework will apply to all fellowship schemes with a preliminary application deadline after August 2018.</p>
<p>Don’t be concerned if you’re in the early years of your research career – you’ll be assessed according to your research achievements and potential. For example, the Career Development Fellowship scheme is open to those who haven’t yet established their own independent group and aren’t a senior principal investigator.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="large-font"><span class="quote-blue"><img alt="Dr Iain Foulkes" class="right" data-delta="1" src="/sites/default/files/styles/cruk_wide_resp_breakpoint_one/public/iain_foulkes_200px_padded.png?itok=r5MZfmmX" title="Dr Iain Foulkes" typeof="Image" />We’re removing a potential barrier for researchers who weren’t previously able to apply for our support because they might have taken a less traditional route into cancer research.<br />
We’re still offering the same great fellowship schemes as before. But now we are being clear about the skills and experience we expect you to have built up before you apply. We’re also setting out how we expect you to develop during your fellowship as you work towards becoming a future cancer research leader.</span></span></p>
<p align="right">Dr Iain Foulkes, Executive Director of Research &amp; Innovation</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Our fellowship schemes will enable you to develop into a future leader in cancer research. Our alignment with other bodies, such as the MRC, will make it easier for you to consider the range of options available across funders.</p>
<p>We hope that our flexible new approach means that going forward, regardless of background or circumstances, we’re supporting the most talented, dedicated researchers and the best scientific ideas.</p>
<div class="more"><a href="/funding-for-researchers/research-career-development-opportunities/competency-framework-for-fellowships#skills10">Find out what opportunities are relevant to your career stage</a></div>
<div class="more"> </div>
<p class="more"> </p>
<a href="/funding-for-researchers/research-features/2018-08-01-improving-flexibility-for-researchers-removing-post-phd-time-restrictions-on-our-fellowships">Read more</a>2018-08-01 21:00:00Cancer Research UKImproving flexibility for researchers: removing post-PhD time restrictions on our fellowshipsMy brain tumour treatment journey – Parminder’s storyhttps://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-08-01-my-brain-tumour-treatment-journey-parminders-story
<p><strong>Science blog</strong></p>
<img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/default/files/parminder-hero_0.jpg" width="620" height="348" />
<p><em>Brain tumours are hard to treat and survival remains stubbornly low. That’s why brain tumour research is one of our top priorities. In the second of a 3-part series, Parminder shares her treatment journey.</em></p>
<p>When I was first told I had a brain tumour I laughed. I just didn’t believe it. My dad was in the room and he told me to stop laughing and to take the doctor seriously. I couldn’t, I thought it just wasn’t possible.</p>
<p>I was 28 at the time and I used to wake up every day with a terrible headache, bizarre déjà vu and a weird metallic taste in my mouth. This happened for a few weeks. I thought it was something to do with my tooth fillings so I went to the dentist who recommended getting my wisdom teeth x-rayed.</p>
<p>So, I went to get an x-ray and I honestly don’t know what came over me, but I lied to the technician. I told her that I’d been getting headaches and that today it was so bad, I’d passed out and hit my head on the coffee table. It was a complete lie, but I just needed someone to understand me. She fetched a doctor and he was really good and listened to me, and arranged a CT scan for me the following morning.</p>
<p>My parents came with me and that’s when we were told: “I’m afraid it’s not good news.”</p>
<h2>Why me?</h2>
<p>At first I was in complete shock. And then I was angry and thought, ‘why me?’</p>
<p>After the doctors explained everything they moved very quickly. They didn’t know if what I had growing in my head was cancerous, but they knew it was a brain tumour and that they had to get it out as soon as possible.</p>
<blockquote class="pull-right"><div class="quotation-marks">
<p>The surgery lasted 8 hours, the longest 8 hours of my parents’ life.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>I was shifted to Charing Cross Hospital where I was put on steroids and anti-seizure medication. It turned out that the funny metal taste in my mouth was a symptom of seizures I’d been having, which also gave me déjà vu.</p>
<p>The steroids made me so hungry. My mum was having to go to the supermarket every other day for me, I couldn’t stop eating! I had surgery a few weeks later. It lasted 8 hours, the longest 8 hours of my parents’ life. They removed 70% of the tumour and sent it off to be analysed. I was in hospital for 10 days and felt down that I was stuck in there.</p>
<p>It was about 2 weeks before I received the letter telling me come to back to hospital to discuss my results. As soon as I saw the word ‘oncology’ on the letter I knew it was cancer. They told me I had a grade 3 astrocytoma. It had been growing in my head for a whole year.</p>
<h2>Milkshakes and hot dogs</h2>
<p>It was the end of 2011 when I was diagnosed. But because it was Christmas, I was told that I’d start further treatment in the new year. I needed 6 weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and couldn’t have any breaks.</p>
<p>The chemotherapy was the hardest treatment. I had to take anti-sickness drugs followed by 5 tablets of temozolomide every morning on an empty stomach. I was told that they’re very toxic and not to touch them, so I had to pop them into the lid of the bottle and then in my mouth.</p>
<blockquote class="pull-right"><div class="quotation-marks">
<p>I just used to close my eyes and try to imagine that I was on a tropical island.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>The first time I took the chemotherapy I felt fine. I got home and was starving so I made burritos and shovelled at least 2 or 3 down! I couldn’t understand why people complained about sickness. But I spoke too soon. 20 minutes later I was throwing everything back up. The anti-sickness drugs did eventually work but they’re not the best; I still felt nauseous the entire time.</p>
<p>I also had a bad allergic reaction to the temozolomide. My face was covered in a rash and I was rushed into hospital where they gave me antihistamines on a drip, which quickly got it under control. The chemotherapy makes you want to sleep all the time. I also couldn’t really eat much, I couldn’t stand the sight of food. Milkshakes and hot dogs were pretty much the only thing I could stomach.</p>
<p>The radiotherapy I had alongside my chemotherapy was at Charing Cross Hospital. I had to have a <a href="/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/radiotherapy/external/planning/moulds-masks">mask</a> that was made specially for me. It would take anywhere between half an hour and an hour and 40 minutes. It wasn’t that bad at all. I just used to close my eyes and try to imagine that I was on a tropical island. It didn’t affect my hair too much except for on my right side where the beam went in, where I don’t have any hair. But I hide that well.</p>
<h2>An unexpected effect</h2>
<p>After the 6 weeks of treatment I had another scan, and they saw that there was still some of the tumour left. So, I had another 3 months of chemotherapy, but this time it was 1 week on 3 weeks off. I had another scan and my doctor said there was no evidence of disease. I jumped for joy and nearly knocked the poor woman off her chair!</p>
<p>After that I had a scan every 3 months, which went down to every 6 months and then once a year.</p>
<p>During check-ups I was shocked to find out that the steroids had affected my right hip. I have something called avascular necrosis, where there’s no good supply of blood to the hip bone. It repairs itself but it gets weak, and last year I was told that because I’m so active, I’ve got about 5 years before I might need a hip replacement. It also means that I can’t have a natural birth if I was to have a child, I’d need a C-section.</p>
<p>That was all a total surprise for me. I knew all about the hunger and the bloated face from the steroids, but no one told me that this could be a side effect.</p>
<h2>Déjà vu, again</h2>
<p>It was 2012 when I got the all clear. But, unfortunately, at the beginning of this year I started getting headaches, déjà vu and the funny taste again. So, I had another scan, which showed that it had come back.</p>
<p>I never usually cry but I burst into tears. Then I pulled myself together and asked, “how are we going to fix it this time then?” I was straight in for surgery. They told me that because it was caught early and it was safe to do so, this time the surgeon could remove all of the tumour.</p>
<blockquote class="pull-right"><div class="quotation-marks">
<p>I’m not the kind of person who sits around feeling sorry for myself.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>The second time the surgery was much harder for me, but I was still back in work after about 2 weeks. I’m not the kind of person who sits around feeling sorry for myself. But the doctors found 2 more little spots of brain tumour that they can’t get to through surgery, so I need another round of chemotherapy.</p>
<p>I’m still going to carry on working but the weeks I have the chemotherapy I’m going to work from home, so I can have a sleep when I need to. My work has been so understanding, and my colleagues all think I’m Superwoman to come back into work so quickly!</p>
<h2>Life’s too short</h2>
<div id="attachment_10708" class="wp-caption alignright"><img data-attachment-id="10708" data-permalink="https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2013/07/18/the-story-of-temozolomide/parminder_research-high-200px/" data-orig-file="https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/parminder_research-high-200px.jpg" data-orig-size="200,275" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="Parminder research 3" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/parminder_research-high-200px.jpg" data-large-file="https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/parminder_research-high-200px.jpg" class=" size-thumbnail wp-image-10708" src="https://zniup3zx6m0ydqfpv9y6sgtf-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/parminder_research-high-200px-150x150.jpg" alt="Parminder research 3" width="150" height="150" /><br />
<p class="wp-caption-text">Parminder had temozolomide for her brain tumour – a drug our scientists developed.</p>
</div>
<p>The main thing that’s helped me through everything is the support of my family and friends. It’s something to live for, and keeps me going. I need to fight this for their sake.</p>
<p>Having been sick the first time and now having to go through it again, I’ve realised that life is way too short and you should just have fun. I’ve got a bucket list; I want to go on safari in Africa, shark diving in Cape Town and see the northern lights. I’ve beaten it once, so I’m going to do it again.</p>
<p>There’s no way I’m going to let the cancer win. I’ve got too much to do.</p>
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<a href="/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-08-01-my-brain-tumour-treatment-journey-parminders-story">Read more</a>2018-08-01 06:30:43Cancer Research UKMy brain tumour treatment journey – Parminder’s storyPiecing together brain tumour biology to design more effective drugshttps://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-07-31-piecing-together-brain-tumour-biology-to-design-more-effective-drugs
<p><strong>Science blog</strong></p>
<img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/default/files/bloghires_braintumour3-06_0.jpg" width="1292" height="725" />
<p><em>In a 6-part series, we’re exploring the major challenges that are holding back progress in the field of brain tumour research. This third instalment focuses on using our knowledge of brain tumour biology to design better drugs. </em></p>
<p>In labs around the world, scientists are slowly uncovering what makes brain tumours tick. From how they develop to how they evolve and spread, each discovery is an extra piece of the uniquely complex puzzle that is a brain tumour.</p>
<p>But there are still pieces missing. Despite all the research, survival for brain tumours remains devastatingly low. And the way they’re treated has remained largely unchanged for decades.</p>
<p>“The wealth of information we have about brain tumour biology is truly staggering,” says Professor David Walker, a children’s brain tumour expert and chair of the Children’s Brain Tumour Drug Delivery Consortium. “But there are very few real examples where this has transformed the way we treat them.”</p>
<p>This needs to change.</p>
<p><a href="http://cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/press-release/2018-05-01-ps18-million-fund-to-tackle-six-biggest-themes-in-brain-tumour-research-launched-today">We launched the Cancer Research UK Brain Tumour Awards</a> to encourage experts from all types of research backgrounds to do just that. These call on scientists to tackle the 6 biggest challenges that are holding back progress in brain tumour research.</p>
<p>And the third theme looks to use our understanding of tumour biology to develop better treatments.</p>
<h2>Applied biology</h2>
<p>We’re learning more and more about how brain tumours develop, and <a href="http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2018/06/28/unlocking-new-insight-into-brain-tumours-using-neuroscience/">we’ve blogged before about the opportunities this brings</a>.</p>
<p>But this hasn’t yet translated into new treatments. Alongside surgery, the main treatments for brain tumours are still chemotherapy and radiotherapy.</p>
<p>Scientists are looking to design drugs that target tumour’s specific weaknesses. But first they need to know what they are.</p>
<p>“The approach we’ve been using for years has been to read the DNA of tumours, find a disrupted gene and then develop a drug against that target,” says Professor Steve Pollard, a Cancer Research UK-funded expert in stem cell and cancer biology at the University of Edinburgh. “And that has tremendous value for certain types of tumours where there’s very clearly one gene fault that is driving tumour development.”</p>
<p>Pollard thinks that this approach might work for some types of brain tumour, particularly those found in children. He says that work in childhood brain tumours has revealed some key gene faults that fuel the growth of these tumours and could be targeted by drugs.</p>
<p>But for most adult brain tumours, things are a bit more complicated.</p>
<p>Brain tumours are often driven by a combination of many different gene faults. And these vary within a patient’s own tumour, not just between patients.</p>
<p>“That’s a problem, because you can’t then design a drug against one thing and expect it to work,” says Pollard.</p>
<h2>Tackling the genetic complexity</h2>
<p>Experts say that tackling this level of complexity might require a different approach.</p>
<p>For example, scientists are unpicking how tumour cells might compensate when different gene faults are targeted. They could use this knowledge to combine treatments that could have a bigger impact together than the individual drugs alone.</p>
<p>For Pollard, finding new treatments means worrying less about the genetic differences in brain tumours, and instead focusing on what they have in common.</p>
<p>“Glioblastoma is very diverse in terms of the specific genes that have been disrupted,” he says. But this doesn’t hold true for how these brain tumours behave and their cell biology. “They all look like brain stem cells that are out of control,” adds Pollard.</p>
<p>His lab tests vast numbers of chemicals to identify those that can either kill the tumour cells or stop them dividing, without affecting normal brain cells.</p>
<p>“We look for targets that aren’t necessarily obvious from the genetics of the tumour,” he says.</p>
<p>The goal is to use this approach to find a drug that would work in many adult glioblastomas, despite their genetic diversity.</p>
<p>“We want to think about how we could cure them all, not just the tiny fraction of them that have a specific genetic fault,” says Pollard.</p>
<p>Researchers are also discovering more about the features that brain tumours have in common. This includes how tumours make and use energy, which <a href="https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2017/10/25/brain-tumours-shared-metabolic-tricks-hint-at-new-approach-to-treatment/">appears to be surprisingly similar</a> across different types of brain tumours. Identifying these common features could open the door to better treatments.</p>
<h2>Considering the environment</h2>
<p>As well as focusing on ways to target the tumour, scientists also need to appreciate its surroundings. The brain is a complex and relatively unexplored environment, as <a href="https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2018/07/12/exploiting-the-brain-tumour-environment-to-make-better-treatments/">we’ve blogged about before</a>.</p>
<p>Understanding this environment could reveal new treatment opportunities. But it also throws up some issues that must be considered when designing new drugs.</p>
<p>The brain is selective about what it lets in. It’s sealed off from the rest of the body by a membrane called the blood brain barrier, which keeps a tight check on anything trying to get into the brain, including drugs.</p>
<p>“With brain tumours, we’ve got the problem of how do we get the enough of the drug into the brain to be effective. It’s a big challenge,” says Walker.</p>
<p>Alongside developing new drugs, scientists are also investigating new ways to get them into the brain. This could involve temporarily disrupting the blood brain barrier while drugs are given, designing transporter systems that can ferry drugs across the barrier, or looking to deliver the drug directly into the brain.</p>
<p>Walker is particularly excited about the direct approach, using specially designed catheters that work through ‘convection drug delivery’. The catheters are inserted into the brain during surgery, allowing drugs to flow directly into the tumour.</p>
<p>“Convection drug delivery has been used in a variety of brain diseases,” he says. “It was developed for Parkinson’s disease, but it’s been adapted so that we can use it in brain tumours.”</p>
<p>It’s being tested in early stage clinical trials for children with an aggressive type of brain tumour that grows in the brain stem. “We have early evidence that using this drug delivery system is producing responses in the area we’re targeting, which we have never seen before with any drug given by any other route,” says Walker. “It’s our duty to test it further in a clinical trial.”</p>
<p>Pollard thinks that, while the blood brain barrier has stopped some drugs from working as well as they could, it might not be a problem for all brain tumours.</p>
<p>“It may be that the blood brain barrier is more of an issue for certain types of brain tumours than others,” he says. “We still don’t know that much about it.”</p>
<p>To learn more, scientists are developing more realistic ways to mimic the blood brain barrier in the lab. They can then learn how to target and manipulate the barrier in more detail.</p>
<p>This is just one example of where scientists need to develop better ways to mimic brain tumours and their surroundingss in the lab. We’ll be exploring this in more detail in the next instalment of the series</p>
<h2>Piecing it together</h2>
<p>Scientists are making fascinating discoveries about how brain tumours work, which could move us closer to new and better treatments. But getting there will depend on piecing this information together with our knowledge of the healthy brain.</p>
<p>“Cancer in the brain is a double-edged sword. There’s cancer and then there’s the brain. And the brain has many unique qualities that add to the challenge,” says Walker.</p>
<p>To tackle a puzzle as complex as this, we need to bring scientists together too. Walker thinks it’s vital that cancer scientists work alongside specialists who know how the brain develops and functions.</p>
<p>“There needs to be a meeting of minds, a sharing of the load for us to make real progress,” he says.</p>
<p>And that’s exactly what the Cancer Research UK Brain Tumour Awards are here to do.</p>
<p><em>Katie </em></p>
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<h3>Read more:</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2018/06/28/unlocking-new-insight-into-brain-tumours-using-neuroscience/">Unlocking new insights into brain tumours using neuroscience</a></li>
<li><a href="https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2018/07/12/exploiting-the-brain-tumour-environment-to-make-better-treatments/">Exploiting the brain tumour microenvironment to make better treatments </a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<a href="/about-us/cancer-news/science-blog/2018-07-31-piecing-together-brain-tumour-biology-to-design-more-effective-drugs">Read more</a>2018-07-31 08:15:35Cancer Research UKPiecing together brain tumour biology to design more effective drugs